Farmer died after being trampled by cow while feeding its calf in Inverness

An experienced farmer died after being trampled by one of his cows in Inverness.

Fraser Johnstone had lived and worked at Balnuran Farm for his entire life before the incident on June 3 last year.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry heard that the 83-year-old had worked on the farm alongside his father from an early age before eventually taking it over.

On the day of the accident, Mr Johnstone had left his home to attend to the animals on the farm around 12pm.

Around five hours later, he returned to the house on a quad bike with blood and bruising around his mouth and holding his chest.

After being helped by his wife, he stated that he had been in a cow shed feeding colostrum to a calf which had not been getting enough milk from the cow.

As he was doing so, the cow, which was the mother of the calf, had pinned him against the wall of the cow shed, thrown him to the ground and trampled him on the chest and body.

After the attack, he crawled from the cow shed to the outside, climbed onto his quad bike and rode home.

The dad-of-two was taken to Raigmore Hospital’s intensive care unit, where he was found to have several rib fractures and cardiomegaly on both sides of the heart.

Mr Johnstone later suffered a heart attack and kidney failure after his condition continued to deteriorate.

He passed away on June 7.

Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald found that there were no precautions that could have been taken to prevent Mr Johnstone’s death.

Sheriff MacDonald concluded: “This was a tragic accident for which I extend my condolences to Mr Johnstone’s family for their loss.”